Falling temperatures – will snow follow?

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (KTUU) – Termination dust has blanketed the mountains around Anchorage and over the peaks of Southcentral Alaska.

Temperatures are slowly dropping but are not out of normal yet, and with the fall season here, the city of Anchorage is waiting for the first snowfall of the season. The average first measurable snowfall is October 16, but that could come earlier this year.

A strong storm is brewing and will hit this weekend.

A trough is forming at the upper level, initially bringing cooler temperatures and helping to push out some moisture over western Alaska and southcentral.

A second weekend low, deeper than the first, moves in and supports surface low pressure. Then the wind increases strongly and heavy rain showers can occur.

A weak low is still bringing showers to the southeastern Panhandle on Wednesday, and the region should be aware of precipitation and associated dangers as another storm system with heavy rain and strong winds is expected to arrive Saturday.

Now let’s talk about the snow level, which will drop to around 500 feet in Anchorage on Wednesday evening. Snow accumulations or accumulations may occur on slopes.

In the Anchorage Bowl, the chance of snow could increase throughout the week. The snow would have to be 0.10 inches to be considered “measurable” and recorded.

So far October is off to a somewhat dry start with just 0.03 inches of precipitation.

Southcentral sees rain over Prince William Sound, but snow could mix in at times Wednesday night into Thursday morning. Western Alaska is also experiencing cooler temperatures.

The hotspot in Alaska on Tuesday was Cordova at 59 degrees! The cold point was 16 degrees in Kuparuk.

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